Vegetarian Poutine – The Ultimate Comfort Food

I'm a sucker for poutine. And this, quite frankly, can be tough for a vegetarian. Tonight I set out to create the ultimate, from-scratch poutine. And I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the results.

The whole thing began with this vegetarian stock recipe. It's the richest broth you'll ever taste, and I defy anyone who doesn't know better to identify its meatlessness. And, it's such a perfect opportunity to use up that last cup of red wine that's been on the counter just a little too long.

Here's how the stock began life:

When the vegetables were happily roasting, I began frying my potatoes. I filled my cast iron pan with approximately an inch of oil and on medium-high gently fried my little potato chunks. (I didn't do a regular fry shape because they break so easily and are kinda a pain to stir, shovel, etc.)

I also cut a bunch of yam into cubes. Coated them in olive oil. And threw in some chopped thyme for fun. These went into the oven until they were done.

When the stock was finished, I put it in a sauce pan, added 1/4 cup of butter, and 2tbsp of cornstarch already dissolved in 1/2c of stock. (I think, although I'm not 100% sure, that a good formula for thickening gravy is: 1/2tbsp of cornstarch for every cup of stock.)

And of course once that was done, I assembled my creation: potatoes, yams, cheese curds, and gravy.

Et voila! Veggie poutine.